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If you have let the 2nd language fade...


Dancer_Mom
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And you want to get started again what is the best approach?  Should I just jump back in at 100%?  

 

I was really good about speaking to my twins in Romanian from the time they were born.  I was doing 100% Romanian when Daddy was at work and then English when he came home.  It seemed to be going well and by 3-4 years old they seemed to always understand me in Romanian and they used just a couple words back with me.  My son started saying "house" in Romanian before English - it was really going well!

 

Fast forward to now - they just turned 6 and the last year to year and a half has been terrible.  I was struggling more and more to keep it up and then some life things got in the way and we are completely out of the habit.  I now have a 3 year old as well that didn't get nearly as much input as the older ones did.  They are also now officially K'ers and we are definitely homeschooling in English since Romanian is my 2nd language.

 

Option 1: Jump back into immersion by speaking in Romanian from the end of homeschooling till DH gets home from work. - that gives them about 6-7 hours per day, 5 days per week in the second language.

Option 2: Start back in slow with maybe just an hour a day and slowly build up.

Option 3: Just start doing daily language lessons (I don't really like this idea because they still seem way too young for this approach)

 

The main issue is that now when I use Romanian with them they insist they can't understand anything (maybe they don't)?  I kind of think that if I press it and gesture and show it may come back to them but will just be very frustrating in the short term. 

 

Anyone BTDT or simply started an immersion language slightly older?

 

 

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:bigear:

 

My 8yo was fully bilingual when he was 3. And now he....just isn't.

 

He also lost it about 4 or 5. Their brains rewire as they age, so yes, they may have completely forgotten, and don't understand a word anymore.  :(

 

We've put him back at the beginning, and have scheduled Dutch as a school subject. He does Duolingo and reads a Dutch book with DH about daily.

 

I'm considering adding in a "daily phrase" for all of us. "Thank you", "May I have some milk?" and the like in Dutch.

 

Eventually it may click back in.

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They are still young. I would just jump right in. You and they may be surprised how much comes back to them as you are speaking to them within context of situations. They will not be able to speak back right away, but they will pick up quickly. Just make sure in the beginning it is painfully obvious what you are talking about- ask if they want a cup of milk as you are holding the milk and a cup, etc. Listen to music, read stories if you have them, cartoons on youtube maybe? You can also have something like duolingo if you think they may need a little push to remember certain vocabulary and such. 

 

So, I say go for it! Good luck.

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I agree to jump back in, but I would modify the approach a bit. I started teaching my kids German when my oldest was already speaking English pretty well. I wanted to do as much "immersion" as possible, but without frustrating him. I also think it's foolish not take advantage of the language skills they already own. So what I started doing was saying everything in German, but then if it wasn't clear what I was saying (i.e., take these forks out to the table, while handing them forks and pointing to the table), I would say it again twice: once in English (so they'd understand!) and then once more in German (so they could learn). Gradually (over the course of a few months), I was able to ease off of the English and say more and more in German only. Yes, it got old saying everything three times. But it wasn't very long, and they picked it up quickly! Good luck!

In any case, I wouldn't "just" relegate it to a school subject - though I could see it being a school subject AND what you're doing with them at home.

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We had a Chinese au pair when DS was 4, and he had immersion then but he doesn't have fluency  that he had then. It was discouraging, but I don't think it was entirely lost, the intuitive understanding is still there. 

 

We do Chinese as a subject, and then I lean heavily on Chinese videos, apps, stories to provide more exposure. FWIW, my DD speaks more Chinese than English even though they both have the same time/exposure to Chinese resources, both being with me at home. So achievement is hard to predict, it is very individual.  

 

To switch things up a bit, I've also heard of families doing:

- Language on certain days,

- Language in certain places, e.g. only German in the living room, French in the kitchen. 

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Should I just jump back in at 100%?  

 

Yes, and supplement with movies, books, radio, etc

 

I go in-country full immersion in one language, and then it fades slowly and then repeat. 

 

Maybe not ideal, but juggling too many languages now.

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We let our formal instruction for our native language slip after older was three due to various life reasons. At 8, my older started showing more interest. At 10, he now wants to be multilingual and be able to speak in his native language.

 

For my older we just speak in Chinese for non school work and he is picking up fast. For my 9 year old, I have to do very basic sign language while I speak. For example if I want him to get a drink, I do the ASL for drinking while speaking in Chinese.

 

What help was that my kids hear hubby and me talking in chinese since their birth and we chat in Chinese with friends. We started back by just watching chinese cartoons and chinese nursery songs karaoke version on YouTube. The aim was familiarization rather than understanding.

 

My plan is to start giving formal instruction to my kids in middle school so they are ready for four years of high school Chinese. They attend German class and if their interest continue, would be ready for high school German when the time comes.

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So I started back today by speaking in Romanian all morning through lunch time minus the hour or so we took for sit down academics.  It actually went okay.  I combined a few of the above ideas.  I repeated some phrases 3 times, Romanian, English, Romanian, and also pointed and gestured a lot so the kids knew what I was saying.  They weren't nearly as frustrated as I thought they would be.   I am going to try to work back up to all day and phase out re-saying things in English as well.  Thanks for the encouragement! 

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Hi, we are a mixed family too.  I am Romanian and my husband is American.  We have spoken only Romanian to our daughter until about 2 1/2, when we moved from Romania to America.  It is then that we started speaking both languages for abvious reasons.  Fast forward 8 years later,  it took a lot of determination on my part to continue speaking Romanian to her as she was starting to communicate more and more in English.   When we started homeschooling, I decided it was a good time to have her learn from the Abecedar too.  It went very good for us, since we treated it like a second language.  She actually learned how to read in Romanian before English.  That, plus semi frequent visits to Romania helped a lot with her Romanian.  We are in our 4th year of homeschooling and just started our Limba Romana clasa a2a.  This way she is forced to expand her voccabulary beyond every day talk.  I also have her watch Romanian cartoons and I take time to read to her in Romanian. 

 

So I think a combination of options 1 and 3  will bring good results. 

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Hi, we are a mixed family too.  I am Romanian and my husband is American.  We have spoken only Romanian to our daughter until about 2 1/2, when we moved from Romania to America.  It is then that we started speaking both languages for abvious reasons.  Fast forward 8 years later,  it took a lot of determination on my part to continue speaking Romanian to her as she was starting to communicate more and more in English.   When we started homeschooling, I decided it was a good time to have her learn from the Abecedar too.  It went very good for us, since we treated it like a second language.  She actually learned how to read in Romanian before English.  That, plus semi frequent visits to Romania helped a lot with her Romanian.  We are in our 4th year of homeschooling and just started our Limba Romana clasa a2a.  This way she is forced to expand her voccabulary beyond every day talk.  I also have her watch Romanian cartoons and I take time to read to her in Romanian. 

 

So I think a combination of options 1 and 3  will bring good results. 

 

Hello!! How great!  I actually have Abecedar as well (Is this made for multiple grades)? but do not think they are ready for it quite yet.  During morning circle time we have been practicing vocabulary and they do seem to enjoy just a short amount of "fun" direct instruction.  I am not Romanian myself - lived there for a couple of years which is how I learned.  A friend of mine went back to visit her family and bought us many videos, an Abecedar book, animal flashcards etc.  I also order children's books from a bookstore in Canada. 

 

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